Open Sources Guelph - July 2, 2020

07/06/20 • 52 min

This week on Open Sources Guelph, the Canada Day long weekend is five days long, and we've got to work! On the plus side (?) there's so much work to do, and so many stories to cover. Considering the holiday, we will look at the issue of our beloved prime ministerial statues, and how the current PM is making it rain for his friends. After the break, we'll look at the latest foreign policy controversy for the White House and the political question of mandatory masks.

This Thursday, July 2, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:

John A Neurotic. The new wave of Black Lives Matter demonstrations has included Indigenous people and the some 500 years of colonialism they've endured. Cut to Baden, ON, where a statue of Sir John A. MacDonald, Canada's first prime minister, has been vandalized with red paint three times in the last week for his role in creating residential schools. What should the fate of the statue be, and how do we present our history in the context of systemic racism?

WE Don't Need No Consultation! It's only millions of dollars in taxpayer money, so how did it all end up in the hands of a charity that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has taken such a pretty big part in? WE Charities received $900 million from the Federal government for youth volunteer programs, and given Trudeau's past involvement in WE, it's raised a lot of serious questions about why and how WE got the money? Is the PM using COVID to give hand outs to good friends?

Bounty Punter. A shocking report initially delivered by the New York Times, and now confirmed by various other media outlets, describes a program by the Russians to pay a bounty to the Taliban and other Afghan insurgents for killing American soldiers. Even more shocking still is the report that the Trump Administration has known about for over a year and done nothing, which adds to suspicions about inappropriate ties between Trump and Vladimir Putin. We'll talk about the latest developments.

Behind the Mask Debate. Aside from washing your hands regularly, the number one recommendation to stop the spread of COVID-19 is now to wear a mask or face covering while you're out in public. To most people this is common sense, but to a small group of very loud dissenters, the importance of wearing masks has become an issue of cultural identity and eroding freedoms. How have masks become a wedge issue, and what will it take for people to universally embrace the recommendation?

Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

This Thursday, July 2, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:

Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

Previous Episode

End Credits - July 1, 2020 (Scare Package)

This week on End Credits, it's a holiday episode. As fate would have it, this week's episode falls on Canada Day proper, which makes us want to look at the movies from here at home to celebrate, and if you feel like celebrating, we'll tell you where you can find some great Canadian films. After that, pull the drapes and get under the covers because we've got a horror movie anthology to review.

This Wednesday, July 1, at 2 pm, Adam A. Donaldson and Candice Lepage will discuss:

Streaming Canada. In case you didn't notice, today is Canada Day. Now people's choice for movie options don't usually begin with what's Canadian, and Canadian options aren't usually presented in the menu, so for this week's pre-review segment, we're going to rundown some of the Canadian flicks that are available now on the major streaming services.

REVIEW: Scare Package (2019). Horror and comedy together is like chocolate and peanut butter, two things that shouldn't work well when combined, but when it's good, it's reeeeally good. Does the combination work when you throw in a third element, an anthology? Scare Package, a new film on Shudder, has laughs, has gore, and has about eight different stories reflecting various horror subgenres, but does the chemistry work or is it a big green gooey mess with a talking skull head in the middle?

End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

Next Episode

GUELPH POLITICAST #228 - Still COVID with Doctor Mercer

Our area has been under Stage 2 of the re-opening for nearly a month now, and people are eagerly looking for signs that we might soon enter the final stage. Still, our position is precarious. We see what is happening in the United States, and if there’s one thing that we can all agree on, it’s that we do not want to re-enter lockdown. So shall we get a doctor’s advice on how to avoid all that?

This week, we're joined by Dr. Nicola Mercer, who is the Medical Officer of Health for Wellington County, Dufferin County and Guelph. It seems like a million years ago, but Dr. Mercer appeared on the podcast barely four months ago at the beginning of March when a COVID-19 outbreak in Canada still seemed like a theoretical exercise. It was barely two weeks later that everything started shutting down; we went from a regular day’s routine of work, school and errands, to three months of lockdown and quarantine and empty streets, and it's been a long way back.

Now, four months later, Dr. Mercer joins us again as we look ahead, as well as behind, about the local response to COVID-19 so far. She will talk about how the medical advice on masks evolved over the course of the pandemic, and whether or not they will now be a regular part of life. She also discuss how the virus is spreading now in the Guelph area, and the best tips on how to avoid it as we go out more. And finally, she will offer her insights on how we will move to Stage 3, when the local state of emergency will end, and how public health is preparing for that eventual return of COVID-19 in the fall and winter.

So let's talk about the past, present and future of the pandemic in our region on this week's Guelph Politicast!

There’s a Board of Health Meeting Wednesday July 8 at 2:30 pm where we will get an update on the local battle of COVID-19 from the public health perspective. And for all advice public notices regarding COVID-19, or any public health matter, you can go to the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health website here.

The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes of the Politicast here, or download them on your favourite podcast app at iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, and Spotify.

Also, when you subscribe to the Guelph Politicast channel and you will also get an episode of Open Sources Guelph every Monday, and an episode of End Credits every Friday.